Los Angeles daily herald., 1887-10-23
THE WASHOUTS,
Impossible so Prevent Then
Experiments Tried.

E4Rchhhnohtn IElcus
In speaking OF the recent washouts
in Arizona caused by the late heavy
rains in that section, a gentleman who
had just arrived from Ell Paso over
the Southern Pacific said in the course
OF his remarks: at is almost impos-
sible for one to conceive OF
the immense amount of damage done
the Southern Pacific railroad and the
country in general by the late heavy
rains. In many places all visible
traces of the track were entirely
washed away and in many instances
quite depression was formed by the
surging wat RS.
"rhe rains see n to have been very
general, and much devastation is visi-
ole in all parts OF the Territory. Be-
ing travelling man, | am perfectly
qualified to speak knowingly about
the matter, and anything that l have
said or may say about the matter can
be relied upon"
In speaking OF the great delay
caused to toe travelling public and the
delivering of the mails, the scribe
ventured to enquire if the company
had been reasonably energetic in re-
pairing the damages and facilitating
travel.
mo blame whatever can be at
tached to the company for any delay
caused" answered the gentleman,
'tor having been on many of the
scenes myself between this city and
FL Paso, can confidently say that all
possible haste was made by the COM
pany in repairing the damages, and
in the orst instance, where to repair
the road would have required from
one to tw o days, a system of transfers
was hastily improvised, SO that great
delay was avoided"
''Is there no way by which these
calamities could be averted?' ven
tured thesrepoi ter.
"Well, / hardly think so," replied
the gentleman, "unless it would be to
erect levees, which would involve con-
siderable capital, and in fact, hardly
think the end would justify the means.
Moreover, it would be exceedingly
difficult to construct levees of any
great permanency or staying qualities
owing to the loose sandy nature OF the
SOIL"
"It was thought" continued the
gentleman in the effort to further ex
plain the matter, "by the company
some few years since that system OF
drainage might be employed, which
would to some extent at least avert
the immense damage which is now
being done to the road by the heavy
rains. In furtherance Of this idea a
number OF bitches running diagonally
to the road were dug a distance of for
ty or fifty miles along the track in Ari-
IONA, it being thought that they would
catch most of the water and
convey it away from the
track, which they did
quite successfully for u time, at least
until the heavy rains commenced,
when the immense volume of water
rushing with such force down the
bitches, burst through their loose
sandy banks and overspread the sur
rounding country, doing the track
heavy damage"
"These bitches, though" said the
gentleman, "have served their pur-
pose as far as they went admirably,
and have prevented much damage be-
ing done to the road by the light
rains"
''Do not mishaps sometimes occur
from the engineer or conductor hav-
ing no knowledge of the washouts
ahead Of them?' asked the scribe.
"Most of the engineers and trainmen
whose run Is through this section OF
the country" answered the gentle
man, "have been in the employ OF the
company for years, and most OF them
can judge pretty accurately of the APP
proach OF storm, and when the wet
season sets in the engineer is ever on
the alert, running very cautiously in
the night time, and always on the
lookout for danger from this source,
and as result, many serious disast-
ers are prevented. The responsibility
resting upon the railroad engineer is
perfectly exemplified in such in
stances, when little negligence on
his part might Cause the death of hum
dreds."